Calendar Ships 09: September - I Lit The Candle On Your Sweet Sixteen
by Gatergirl79
Summary: Mike was meant to be spending his sixteen birthday with his best friend Trevor, but when the guy lets him down, college student Harvey quickly steps into the breach. [story told from Harvey's PoV]


**A/N: I would like to apologise in advance for the crappiness of this fic. I'm so sorry it's not up to my usual standards. Slight tweak to the title. The actually lyric is**

 _ **September, I light the candle at your sweet sixteen.** _

* * *

"You can't be serious, Trevor!" yelled an angry young voice behind Harvey. "We had plans man. I blew off my Grams because you said we'll be having an epic birthday celebration, and now you're blowing me off because Christy Wallace asked you over to her place! – " There was a long moment of silence where this Trevor guy obviously tried to defend himself. "Yeah well fuck you man. I fucking helped you celebrate you're birthday last month even though we had that huge midterm paper. Whatever, enjoy your date."

There was the sound of plastic furiously being slammed against a table and a long world wary sigh that tugged at Harvey's heartstrings. Whoever this Trevor guy was, he was an asshole of biblical proportion.

Shaking his head at the guy's plight, Harvey closed the sport section of his paper and fished out his wallet before getting to his feet. When he turned to leave his booth his eyes couldn't stop from glancing at the table. His heart did an odd little stutter at the young guy. He couldn't have been more then seventeen, blonde, slim yet Harvey imagined he had a decent amount of muscle under the t-shirt and hoodie. He was slouched miserably in the corner of the booth started out the window.

Harvey sympathised, it wasn't easy to be let down by those you trusted and cared about. Especially for sex. Of course, sex was great, he loved sex, but it wasn't worth destroying a friendship over. - Or thirty years of marriage.

Gritting his teeth Harvey shook the thoughts away and carried on to the diner door, only to stop a few feet away from leaving to glance down at his watch. It was just barely 8PM, which meant Harvey was looking at ten hours alone in his dingy little no bedroom shithole with only his TV and his left hand.

Chewing on the inside of his month, Harvey glanced back at the booths, the thatch of blond hair just visible over the seat, then over to the counter. Exhaling a long resigned breath, Harvey changed direction, marching over to purchase two slices of their cheesecake, with the plates in front of him, he fixed his most flirtatious and charming smile on and asked the pretty young waitress if by any chance she had a candle. "For the cake." he clarified.

She blushed and turned towards the kitchen. Returning a few seconds later with a small blue and white birthday candle.

Gifting her with a wink, Harvey snagged it and the two plates, then made his way over to the moping teenager.

Without a word he slid into the seat across from the blonde and set the plates down. The guy looked up surprised and confused, shifting back against the red leather bench, eyes warily watching Harvey take a seat.

Harvey tilted his head, the corner of his lips turning up. "Hey."

The guy stared dumbly at him for another few seconds before replying. "Uh, hey." his tone was causation and Harvey noted he was glancing at the counter, then around the diner.

"Relax kid." Harvey reassured grinning and reached into his packet for his light well, technically it was his dad's but since when did he care about semantics.

He lit the small candle and stabbed into the top of the cheesecake and shoved the thing across the table at the guy. When the kid looked nervously between the candle, cake and Harvey. Harvey rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's just cheesecake, you can ask the witness." he gestured to her. "I'm just trying to do a good thing her. I know what it's like to have people let you down on your birthday."

The kid stared at him, eyes narrowed and suspicious.

"If you wanted a private conversation then maybe you should have kept your voice down." Harvey pointed out smugly. "You might want to blow that out before it melts all over the place."

There was a long uncertain moment where Harvey thought the kid was going to run, but then the blond leant forward, took a deep breath and blew, his eyes closed tightly. Harvey smiled at the sight, his heart skipping momentarily.

Harvey exhaled the breath he hadn't been aware he'd been holding and met the boy's cool blue eyes, his lips stretching into a lopsided grin as he leant back, arms folded over his chest. "So, what's you name kid?"

"I'm not a kid." The blond snapped defensively, reaching for his fork.

"Sure you aren't." Harvey laughed. ""What are you, 16?"

The kid flushed, clearing his throat. "Yeah."

Harvey smirked, sticking his hand out to the kid. "I'm Harvey."

"Mike."

They shook hands and Harvey felt a shock of electricity fire through him. He suspected the kid, Mike, had felt it too because he yanked his hand back violently, face flushed. Harvey dragged his tongue over his lips and watched Mike as the kid picked up his fork and stabbed at the cake.

"So what were you and your buddy meant to be doing tonight?"

Mike sighed. "Trevor was supposed to be getting us..." he trailed off cautiously.

"Fake Ids?" Harvey finished with a grin.

Mike gave him a shrug and lifted a forkful of cake to his slightly chapped lips. "But he decided that Christy Wallace was a batter option." Mike added angrily around his food.

Harvey watched him closely, the angry flash in his blue gaze having a very figurative green hint to them. He wondered just how close a 'friend' this Trevor jerk was.

Reaching for his own slice of cheesecake, Harvey let the subject rest, focusing on filling his stomach instead. He looked up to find Mike staring miserably out of the window, poking at the cake blindly. Harvey rolled his eyes once more. "Would you stop feeling sorry for yourself? It's bad for your complexion."

Mike looked around, lips turning up in a small half smile that made Harvey hot under the collar. "Can you remember to turn off the stove in twenty minutes?" he asked.

Harvey grinned brightly. "I can remember lots of things."

They both stared at each other before bursting into a fit of laughter. "You didn't strike me as a John Hughes kind of guy." Mike smirked, leaning forward on the table, cake between his resting elbows.

Harvey raised a brow at him. "It's John Hughes. What kind of teenager would I have been if I didn't watch the classics?"

Mike grinned sweetly. "We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better at hiding it. That's all." he shrugged.

"Do you think I'd speak to you? I don't even know your language." Harvey replied with a wide grin.

Mike chuckled, his blue eyes glowing with mirth in the fluorescent lights of the diner.

They spent the next hour discussing movies and throwing their favourite quotes back and forth. It was probably the most relaxed Harvey had been in a long while. For a while he forgot about the pile of term papers sitting on his desk back at the flat, and the possibilty of being kicked out.

They were just starting a discussion on the current baseball season when Mike's phone rang. The kid looked reluctantly at his cell, then sighed and reached for it.

"Trevor?" Harvey guessed, frowning.

Mike nodded. "Probably wants to brag about getting to fourth base with Christy." he muttered tiredly.

Harvey really didn't like this guy. He'd had his share of douche bag friends, it never ended well. Sadly, Harvey had a feel a wrecked birthday wasn't even the tip of the iceberg. Harvey could imagine Trevor pulling Mike down if the kid didn't break ties. "You want a ride home?" Harvey offered, before Mike could answer the cell.

Mike looked from the phone to him and sighed. "Nah, its cool, man. Thanks. I..." he looked at the phone when the ringing stopped. "I'm meant to be staying at Trevor's tonight." he mumbled.

Harvey sighted, shaking his head, then glanced at the clock on the wall. It was barely 9pm. He remembered his sixteenth birthday, before it all went to hell. His mom had thrown him a huge party, and then he and Thomas, his best friend in high school, had snuck off to a college party. Harvey had blurry memories of getting very drunk and hooking up with a leggy blonde. It was most definitely one of the best nights of his life. - What he could remember of it.

Looking back at a suddenly sombre Mike, he felt his chest tightened at the thought of the kid heading back to his loser friends place and having to suffer the rest of the night listening to Trevor's sexual exploits. It just wasn't fair. Harvey shook his head. No, he just couldn't do that. "Come on kid." he ordered, slipping from the bench.

"I said I don't need a lift." Mike repeated firmly.

"I'm not taking you home, kid." he stared at him expectantly.

"Where are you taking me?" Mike asked cautiously, even as he slid from the booth.

"It's your birthday, we should celebrate." Harvey grinned wickedly when he caught sight of the scarlet flush on Mike's cheeks and the way he was biting his lip.

 **_September: I'll Light The Candles On Your Sweet Sixteen_**

The place was packed when Harvey lead Mike into the frat house, the music loud and pulsating against their bodies. When he looked back to insure the kid was behind him, he found Mike grinning from ear to ear, eyes scanning the area like an excited puppy.

"Harvey!" shouted a familiar female voice.

Harvey turned to greet Carrie Webber. She was marching towards him with excitement and if Harvey wasn't wrong, purpose. He inhaled slowly and stepped in close to Mike. While Carrie was a nice girl, and a lot of fun to be with, she was far too eager. They'd only went out, - but which he mean slept together. - Twice and she started acting like they were a couple. Calling him all the time, wanting to know where he was. Eager to see him every minute of every day. It was too much for Harvey. Freshman year was about cutting lose and having a good time. He had no desire to settle down. Harvey wasn't planning to be one of those guys who was going to meet the love of his life in his first year of college. He wasn't going to fall in love at first sight. - He had _no_ intention of making his mom's mistake.

"Harvey, you came." she grinned brightly, stepping up into his personal space.

Harvey reacted without really thinking. Well, that was a lie, he was thinking how he needed to get through to Carrie that he wasn't interested, so without a seconds hesitation he flung his arm over Mike's shoulders and drew him into his side, hip to hip. "I changed my mind. My date insisted." he squeezed Mike's shoulder reassuringly when he felt the kid stiffen beside him.

Carrie's eyes widened, flickering from Harvey to the young man beside him. "Your...date?" he frowned, looking Mike up and down.

"Yeah, it's his birthday." Harvey grinned, leaning over to press a kiss to Mike's lips.

Carrie made a choking nose and stepped back. "I... - You're gay!" she screeched, as if she'd just discovered Harvey had the clap.

Harvey pulled back from Mike's flushed face, gifting him with a wink before turning back to Carrie. "Bisexual actual, Carrie." then he led Mike past her. "Have a nice time." he called over his shoulder.

He waited until they were in the kitchen before reluctantly retrieving his arm from Mike's shoulder. "Sorry about that. Drastic times call for drastic measures." he sauntered over to the ice filled sink and grabbed to beers, handing one to a still flushed Mike.

"Ex?" he finally asked.

"Hardly." Harvey huffed, clinking his bottle with Mike's and grinning down at him. "Happy Birthday, Kid."

Mike grinned and took a long gulp from his bottle. Harvey watched the way Mike's lips closed around the rim, and the convulsive movements of his throat as he swallowed and tried to keep his dick from hardening. It had been a while since he'd met a guy who got him hard. Not since High School, when he'd snuck off to the janitors closest with that exchange student. They'd spent almost a month messing around before the guy was hit the road again with his family.

When Mike lowered the bottle from his mouth, his lips were red from being pressed against the glass, and glistening from the alcohol. The kid met his eyes and they were once again shimmering with life, it made Harvey feel light headed. "Let's go out to the yard, can't think in here." he said loudly, leading the way towards the back door.

The noise was only minimally improved in the backyard, but it was cooler and there were less people, so Harvey could breathe. The found a couple of abandoned chair in the dark corner of the yard and made themselves comfortable.

"So, what are you studying?" Mike asked, watching the chaos erupting around them.

"English lit." Harvey replied flatly. "I got a baseball scholarship." rubbing subconsciously at his shoulder.

Mike smirked at him. "So you're a jock?"

Harvey turned amused eyes on him, looking the kid up and down. "What are you? Brain, basket case, a criminal or a princess?" he smirked, raising a brow.

Mike huffed. "Depends who you ask." he smirked, then took another gulp of his beer.

Harvey laughed, grinning at the guy.

"You're ex-girlfriend is watching us." Mike said, nodding towards the porch.

Harvey looked over with a sigh. Carrie was stood there with two other girls, both of which Harvey had been intermit with in the last eight months. "They're probably comparing notes."

Mike looked at him, brows raised.

Harvey didn't expand on the comment, instead shifting his chair closer to Mike's. "You got a girlfriend, Mike?"

The kid flushed, his gaze still fixed on the three girls. He shrugged his shoulder. "Kind of. We're kind of off and on."

"And right now?"

"We're off." Mike muttered, but he didn't sound all that broken up about it.

"Searching for a boy in high school is as useless as searching for meaning in a Pauly Shore movie." Harvey exhaled, leaning back in the chair and looking up at the sky.

Mike let out a bark of laughter and Harvey felt that warmth stirring in his chest again.

They fall into a companionable silence, just watching the party carry on around them.

"What you planning to do after graduation?" Harvey asked, breaking the warm silence.

Mike was leaning back in his chair, mirroring Harvey. "College. I want to study law."

Harvey turned his head, staring at the teenager's profile. "Law?"

Mike met his gaze and nodded.

"Hell of an ambition." Harvey hummed. "Good for you. - Though you might want to ditch Trevor." he stated firmly. "He'll hold you back."

"Trevor's my best friend." Mike insisted. "We've been buddies since kindergarten."

"Best friend?" Harvey scoffed. "He left you to celebrate your birthday alone, and judging from how angry you were, I'd guess it's not the first time."

Mike straightened. "He's been there for me more times than he's let me down." he snapped angrily.

Harvey sat up, twisting to meet the other teenager's eyes. "I'm just saying Mike that I've known guys like this Trevor jackass and it never ends well for them."

Mike was on his feet in a second, glowering down at Harvey. "Do don't know shit about me, or Trevor!" he yelled defensively. "You picked me up in a diner, that doesn't give you the right to dictate who I should be friends with!" with that he spun on his heel and marched off, weaving his way through the crowd.

Harvey had half a mind to let the little shit go, he lent back in the chair and gulped down the last of his beer, before his conscious got the better of him. Shooting to his feet, he left the bottle on the grass and took off through the yard and house after Mike. He found him marching furiously down the stress, head bows, shoulders drawn up to his ears. Harvey raced up to him and snagged his shoulder, forcing him to stop and turn. "Look, kid, I'm just trying to look out for you. You seem like a good guy and you know what you want to do with your life, that's rare. I'd had to see you get dragged down by some loser."

Mike glowered up at him. "Trevor isn't a loser."

"Loyalty is a two way street Mike!" Harvey argued. "And right now all I'm seeing is you defending a guy who couldn't put his own needs aside to help you celebrate a huge mile stone in your life!"

Mike opened his mouth to defend his buddy again, only nothing came out. He slumped his shoulders and sighed, turning and dropping down on a nearby grass lawn. He drew his legs up to his chest. "I know Trevor can be trouble." he muttered.

Harvey lowered himself down next to him.

"But he's all I have." he whispered, voice breaking on the words.

"All?" Harvey frowned.

"Him and my Grams, yeah. - I'm not popular, Harvey. I'm the kid whose parents were killed in a car accident." he sniffled, dragging the sleeve of his hoodie beneath his nose. "I should be having a huge birthday party with my parents, but all I have is..." he looked around to meet Harvey's sympathetic gaze.

Harvey wasn't expecting Mike to lean forward and kiss him. It was warm and chaste, and sent a ripple of longing though Harvey that seemed to seek out every corner of his being and take up residence. His lifted his hand to cradle Mike's jaw, kissing him back softly. Usually Harvey kissed like he was on borrowed time. Like at any moment the world was going to end and he'd never get to kiss anyone ever again. This time though, he was in no rush. When Mike opened his mouth to him, Harvey took his sweet time getting to know every part of Mike's mouth, savouring the way he tasted, beer still tainting his tongue.

Mike moaned and shifted closer to him, wrapping one arm around Harvey's neck. Harvey snaked his free arm to encircle Mike's waist. He thought he heard the distant sound of catcalls and insults, but he was so consumed by Mike that it all just fell away into nothingness.

Before he could get completely lost in the moment, a voice in the back of his mind began to speak. It was his father. The soft happy voice he always adopted when he told them about how he and Lily had met. Reciting the tale of love at first sight. How the moment he'd set eyes on Lily he'd known she was the one for him. How their first kiss had been like flying and drowning all in the same second. How it felt like forever and yet over all too quickly.

Harvey pulled away, eyes wild and heart racing. He gulped on fresh air and scrabbled to his feet, turning his back on Mike and dragging his hand though his hair.

"Harvey?" Mike asked breathlessly. "What's wrong?"

Harvey stood by the curb, fighting to regain his senses. He looked down at his hands to find they were shaking. How the hell was this happening to him?

"Harvey?"

"Nothing wrong." Harvey snapped, tone unnecessarily harsh. "I..." he took a deep breath, holding it in his chest for a few seconds before exhaling slowly. "I'm sorry, Mike." he muttered finally. "It's nothing, I'm just..." squaring his shoulders, he turned to face the teenager. "I should take you home." he said tightly.

Mike stared at him, kiss swollen lips pressed into a thin line. "I..." he swallowed thickly and scrambled to his feet. "I'll get the bus."

Harvey shook his head. "Don't be ridiculous. I brought you here, I'll take you home." he headed for his battered up Ford parked across the street. When he heard no sound of footsteps he turned and frowned. "Come on."

"I'll get a cab!" Mike insisted angrily.

Harvey rolled his eyes and marched angrily back to him, towering over the younger teenager. "Don't be childish." he snapped. "Just get in the goddamned car!"

"No."

Harvey growled. "Fine!" he headed back to the car, claiming in with a slam of doors. He sat behind the wheel for a long moment before starting the engine and pulling out of his parking space. He didn't drive off though, despite desperately wanting to with every fibre of his soul. Instead he pulled up beside Mike, who'd started marching down the almost quiet suburban street. He clenched his jaw and just felt his speed low, waiting for Mike to stop behaving like a baby and get in the car.

They were two streets away before Mike seemed to have enough, he stopped and stormed over to the car. He yanked open the door and bend down, but he didn't climb in. "Stop following me!" he yelled.

"No!" Harvey replied calmly, his head having righted itself finally. "So you might as well just get in the damn car and let me take you home."

Mike let out a frustrated growl and furiously climbed into the car, slamming the door so violently the window shook. Harvey shot his a hard glare but Mike ignored it, yanking at the seatbelt and then slumping low in the seat.

"Where to?" Harvey growled.

"Just head back to the diner." Mike grunted out. "I'll walk from there."

"I'll..."

Mike turned burning eyes on him. "I'll walk from there."

Harvey bit his lip and sighed, resigned to the situation.

They pulled up outside the diner some thirty minutes later. Mike hurriedly unbuckled and reached for the door, only for Harvey to still him with a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry. " he said softly. "About...back there. I shouldn't have kissed you."

Mike refused to look at him, his face red in the street lights. "I kissed you first."

"Yeah, well, I shouldn't have kissed you back. You're a kid."

"I'm 16!" Mike snapped. "And you're only a few years older."

Harvey sighed. "Right now, three years is three too many." he smiled regretfully at Mike. "Who knows, maybe in a few years, after you've graduate, when you're a big shot lawyer, maybe we'll get another chance."

Mike scoffed. "Like you'll remember me past tonight." he whispered, staring down at his jeans.

Harvey reached over, gripping the back of Mike's neck and pulling him into a soft brief kiss. "Believe me, kid, I'm not going to forget you."

Mike inhaled sharply, closing the small gap to kiss him again, this time more deeply. It took everything Harvey had to pull away, shaking his head.

"You sure you don't want..."

Mike shook his head, already shoving open the door. "Thanks for a great birthday Harvey."

Harvey smiled regretfully at him. "It wasn't that great, Mike."

"Yeah, it was." his grinned split his face practically in half and Harvey's heart almost stuttered to a stop.

Swallowing thickly and fighting the desire to pull Mike back into the car and taking his somewhere, anywhere they could be alone and he could just spend the night kissing him, Harvey forced a bright smile. "Happy Sweet Sixteen, Mike."

Mike flushed and gave him a slow sad smile before shoving the car door closed and stepping back. They stared at each other though the car window, but then a sound from behind them caused Mike to turn, his face falling. Glancing into the rear view mirror Harvey watched a dark haired teenager rushing towards Mike and knew without a shadow of a doubt that it was Trevor.

Part of Harvey wanted to get out and give the asshole a piece of his mind, but instead, he met Mike's nervous gaze, inclined his head and drove away.

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 **A/N: I hope that wasn't too god awful.**


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